


As Subtle as a Sledgehammer

by Aetheron



Series: New Game Plus [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 14:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14046147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aetheron/pseuds/Aetheron
Summary: The original snippet I wrote that eventually morphed into New Game Plus. Covers the same time period as New Game Plus's chapter 1, but during a hypothetical third loop through the week.





	As Subtle as a Sledgehammer

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

The grayed edges from my power distorting the flow of time snaps back to full color as I hit the moment it all began.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Glancing down at my right hand… Holy shit! 

Even seeing them, I still have trouble believing it actually worked.

Quickly stuffing the little baggy of photos that shouldn’t exist yet into my bag, I’m so excited that I actually knock my camera off my desk. Again. Damn, I haven’t done  _ that  _ in a while.

Staring at it on the floor, broken, I don’t even realize the crazed giggling I hear is coming from me until I notice everyone staring at me. Some superhero I am, I probably sound like the Joker.

Ignoring them all, I take a moment to calm myself down before slowly rewinding until my camera is safely back on my desk and I make sure I can still see the photos in my bag. 

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Okay. I can do this. 

...3rd time’s the charm, right?

There goes Stella’s pen. Now I just lean forward a bit like I’m paying attention to the lecture...

“These pieces of time can frame us in our glory and our sorrow; from light to shadow; from color to chiaroscuro…”

Slow time down just a little bit and… snatch the ball of paper out of the air before it reaches Kate.

Taylor and Tor- Victoria glare at me. 

Ungh. 

I glare right back at them with an angry expression on my face. I’m still not very good at it, and knowing what I know about Tori just makes it even harder. Fantasizing about beating Jefferson to death with his own tripod seems to do the trick though. Whatever my face says about me in that moment, they look a little freaked out when they blink first and turn away from me. I’ll have to remember that trick for later.

I don’t bother paying attention during the rest of class. Hearing Mr. Jefferson’s voice is hard enough without having to look at him while he talks. 

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Fortunately, writing notes for class and writing notes about what’s to come and what I need to do looks about the same from halfway across the room and without me taking a selfie in the middle of class he doesn’t get drawn over to talk about the Daguerreian Process. 

 

**\---**

 

The moment the bell rings, I’m up out of my seat and wrapping an arm around Kate. 

“Hey, Marshmallow.”

“Oh, hi… Max.” The faint touch of confusion in Kate’s voice as I use a nickname Chloe hasn’t given her yet hurts a little. 

Still, it’s an improvement over how sad I remember her sounding and she’s totally leaning into my one armed hug too. 

She definitely needed this. 

...Okay, admittedly so did I.

Pulling her in tighter for a moment, I slap the balled up piece of paper down in front of us. “I am going to take care of this. Don't worry, okay?”

Slipping away while she stares at me in confusion, I head for the exit. 

“I see you, Max Caulfield. Don't even think about leaving here until we talk about your entry.”

How could I possibly forget about that, you smug fuc-

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

In the end, smiling at him while explaining that I’m off to go, ‘take the shot,’ for my entry only requires  _ three  _ rewinds worth of hugging the stuffing out of Marshmallow.

Which turns out to be a good thing since I’d totally forgotten to steal Tori’s lipstick on my first pass by her bag. I make sure to remember to take that opportunity on my last run through. I’m going to need that shit in a moment.

 

**\---**

 

Shaking out my photo of the butterfly, open up my bag and get out the photos I brought back with me as I wait for Nathan to enter.

It doesn’t take long before I hear the door open and Nathan walk in. 

“It's cool, Nathan... Don't stress…”

And…  _ Pause! _

Writing on a mirror with my left hand as I hold the flow of time in check with my right is  _ hard _ , especially using lipstick. I’m a little worried that my obvious inability to mimic Rachel’s handwriting will ruin everything.  _ ‘You did this to us!’ _

Those concerns are all put to rest by the sound of Nathan launching himself back from the mirror as the photos I taped there suddenly ‘appear out of nowhere.’ Poring through those god awful binders looking for the angriest and most accusatory shot of each girl was apparently worth it, Nathan’s breathing is almost louder than the sound of his back slamming into the stalls. 

Pausing again, I take a moment to enjoy the look of wide-eyed terror on Nathan’s face as I pull down each photo but Rachel’s, leaving her in the center under the lipstick message  _ ‘I thought we were friends.’ _

I have to guess how long it takes him to read it by saying the words to myself under my breath after I unpause. 

An extra half second for good measure and I pause again. Swapping Rachel’s photo for the one of Victoria and adding  _ ‘but so did she’ _ underneath. Nathan’s gone sickly pale in the intervening second, sweat starting to show on his face. If I weren’t the one doing this to him deliberately I’d probably be trying to drag him down to the nurse. 

Right on cue, Chloe kicks open the door, not giving Nathan more than a bare second to process my implication that Jefferson is grabbing girls without him. 

The moment Nathan looks Chloe’s way, I pause again and wipe away the lipstick. Getting the mirror clean actually proves to be the hardest part of this whole plan.

...That's a lie. Not hugging Chloe and never letting go is the hardest.

Ducking into one of the stalls, I flush the toilet the instant time resumes marching forward, cutting off anything Chloe might say to set Nathan off. His eyes looked closer to the edge of insanity than I've ever managed to push him before and I’m not a fan of his hand having been shoved into  _ that _ pocket since I last looked at him. I am  _ not _ watching Chloe get shot again. 

Never again.

“Nathan?” I poke my head out of the stall, “what're you doing in the  _ girl’s _ room?” Sounding innocently confused at this point is pretty hard, especially since he’s got the gun out now. 

I’m not sure I even really managed it at all, not that it really matters since he stops dead in the middle of turning towards me, transfixed at the sight of the now clean mirror sporting a photo of his own dead body that I quickly make vanish the moment he blinks.

I keep my right hand up and ready in case he looks like he might shoot. He’s really not looking that good now, like he might just straight up pass out on me. Huh… I never considered that idea. That could be perf- nope, nevermind. There he goes. 

Judging by the poleaxed expression on her face, and the fact that she’s staring straight at me instead of watching the boy _ holding a gun  _ as Nathan races past her fleeing the bathroom, I probably didn’t manage to get back into position perfectly when I moved back to the stall this time. 

Anyone else and I'd be worried about that, but I always planned on telling her everything as soon as possible and it gives me an excuse to do something I've always wanted to do but never had the courage to try this early on before.

…

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Courage. Right.  _ Rewind _ .

“Chloe!”

_ Pause. _

Rushing forward, I wrap my arms around her and unpause just before I complete the hug. No matter how much I want to just stay like this forever, no matter how much I want to tell her I love her, I know this isn't  _ my _ Chloe.

Not yet. 

I let myself enjoy one deep breath of her scent before breaking the hug. I pause again briefly while stepping back a half pace. Seeing me effectively teleporting around seems to be doing a good job preparing her for the ‘I'm a time traveler!’ reveal. 

Damnit! I can't even do  _ that _ yet. 

Not properly anyway.

Too much to do and, ironically, barely enough time to do it all.

“First Mate Supermax reporting in from the future, Captain!” Offering her a sad smile to go with my sloppy salute, I hold up the last photo I brought back with me. Nathan pointing a gun at an obviously scared Chloe right here in the bathroom. I hate this photo so much, but right now I need it. “I swear I'll explain everything in a bit, but right now we need to find Dav-”  _ Rewind! _ “-Mr. Madsen and send him after Nathan.”

I want to believe she lets me take her hand and pull her along behind me because my Chloe’s already in there and not because she’s too busy freaking out to object.

 


End file.
